Healthcare Technology Featured Article

October 02, 2012

Nuance and JATA Partner to Help with ICD-10 Transition


Nuance Communications, Inc. has acquired J.A. Thomas and Associates (JATA), a provider of physician-oriented, clinical documentation improvement (CDI) programs for the healthcare industry.

These programs were formed to help care providers shine a light on the quality of patient care while increasing accuracy in coding and reporting. Clinical documentation is the backbone of care, the health record integral to the patient, the physician and the healthcare organization. It’s often been the bane of the medical profession but with the transition to electronic health records, providers are finding it easier.

JATA offers technology and professional services that improve clinical documentation for healthcare providers “by starting the CDI process with the physician at the point of care, resulting in more accurate and complete clinical documentation,” according to a statement.

The JATA solution, combined with Nuance’s healthcare software, can help hospitals to move to ICD-10 more easily because it allows for the creation of “more clinically accurate documentation,” the statement reported.

Nuance will integrate JATA’s CDI strategies into its clinical language understanding (CLU) technology, powering both Dragon Medical 360 physician solutions and Quantim HIM computer-assisted coding (CAC) and CDI solutions, to form a bridge between the patient record and the ICD-10 coded information.

ICD-10 is a diagnostic coding system put together by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1993 to replace ICD-9, which was developed by WHO in the 1970s. ICD-10 coding is used by almost every country in the world, except the U.S. but on Oct. 1, 2014, it will replace ICD-9.

“By integrating the clinical documentation improvement process into the physician workflow and leveraging CLU enhanced with JATA strategies, physicians can create the most accurate clinical documentation at the point of care,” said Janet Dillione, executive vice president and general manager, Nuance Healthcare, in the statement. “Together, we will help organizations improve efficiency, achieve the highest levels of clinical accuracy and appropriate reimbursement for the care provided so caregivers can focus on what’s most important, taking care of patients.”




Edited by Rachel Ramsey
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]




SHARE THIS ARTICLE



FREE eNewsletter

Click here to receive your targeted Healthcare Technology Community eNewsletter.
[Subscribe Now]